Deportation for Schengen Visa Overstay

Do you get deported for overstaying a Schengen visa in Sweden? Deportations for overstaying a Schengen visa is incredibly rare. Nobody is coming after you. When you leave the Schengen region there is a good chance that you are going to be taken aside, given some forms to sign, and then be banned from re-entering [...]

Deportations for overstaying a Schengen visa is incredibly rare. Nobody is coming after you. When you leave the Schengen region there is a good chance that you are going to be taken aside, given some forms to sign, and then be banned from re-entering this part of Europe for a few years. The entire process is pretty straight forward, formal, and matter of fact.

Stop worrying, you are free to do whatever you want until leaving. Typically, even if the police do find that you are there illegally, you will just be requested to leave on your own rather than being deported.

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Complete question about being deported for overstaying a Schengen visa in Sweden

I really need help on my situation. overstayed in sweden for 7 months on my student visa expires, i am from india, after i realized that i didnt applied for student residence permit extension i got scared and afried of detention or deport, fortunately in these overstayed days i didn´t done any job or other things, just i was idle in all these days. Now after realizing my mistake am prepared for deportation but am scared and afried of detention or fine, is it possible to convince migration board that i will voluntarily leave the country (sweden). i am so stressed and pissed off of the mistake and wrong i did, really really need your suggestion and advice, it would be really greatfull if you gave me a suggestion.

Do you have a Schengen visa question?

If so, then take a look at our Schengen visa community forum. It’s a community just for people who have questions or concerns related to Europe’s Schengen immigration zone.

Wade Shepard is the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. He has been traveling the world since 1999, through 90 countries. He is the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China, and contributes to The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. Wade Shepard has written 3541 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

My sons travelled in Europe and were not aware they needed a Shengen visa until they exited through Switzerland. They were pulled aside, given a form in German and went on their way. My one son attempted to pay the fine but was told he did not have enough time. How do we get this taken care of so they return at some point? Who can we contact. The Swiss consulate says it is not something they deal with. Any suggestions???

Hi, I had a shengen visa and entered in Netherlands. I moved to spain while my visa was still good but I overstayed in Spain and had my voluntary exit from there. At the immigration they noticed that my visa was expired and asked me to explain. They didn’t give me any papers to sign or read but the officer told me I could be banned for 5 years and he made a mark on the stamp for departure. 4 dots on each side using a pen. I am not sure whether he meant I am banned from entering Spain or entire Europe. I am hoping I could get back once I find a good opportunity in any country but I wanna know if I stand a chance after what happened. There were no formal interrogations and discussions about what I did. Just that. So I’m wondering if I could go back soon by entering another country. Thanks

Hey, my boyfriend is from argentina and is about 1.5 years over his original 3 month Schengen visa. I’m australian (visa situation fine!) and we are looking to immigrate to Australia… do you have any advice on how to get him “legal” without having to return to Argentina? For eg Argentinians are able to enter and stay in Turkey for 90days, this would get him a stamp.. but we’re not sure what we should do after that?!
Any advice/experiences would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers!

The only thing to do is to exit the Schengen region legally and face the potential consequences, which is usually a three or so year ban from reentering Schengen Europe. Many overstayers are still getting out without being punished though, so there are reasonable odds of success. Exiting from the Eastern states or Italy is usually best, but keep in mind that there may be extra scrutiny on your bf because he’s from South AmeriCA.

I went into estonia in september last year and overstayed until june this year. I exited through madrid with no problems. My question is I exited so I could get paperwork to apply for a school in estonia (which is the reason for the overstay, hoping that someone could mail these papers to me but they never did). As of right now I cant apply for current semesters schools and have to wait to apply for winter semester classses. I have a return ticket for mid august with an entry in finland. As you may guess, from june 13 to august 15 there is not 90 days. Is there any way in which they may let me back in? Could i argue that the 180 days was expired thus this being a new 90 days (and having the papers I came to the states for in hand) I might be able to get in and then go to a student visa locally in estonia.

hi,my name is mario and i have a question to u…i come in germany for tourist visa in invitation.but my time period is finish already 2months.so i want to go back in middle east.what is the procedure to get out without any problem..

Hi Mario,
Maybe this story helps…. my boyfriend was a Schengen Visa overstayer by 1 year and 4 months, he is from Argentina. He left the Schengen area about 2 weeks ago from Hungary, going to Serbia. So the border he crossed was the Hungary/Serbian border.
Argentines can go into Serbia without a visa. So the polica let him through without any problems. They did not say anything about him overstaying his Schengen Visa by more than a year.
But, in case there were any problems he had printed information about where he was going in Serbia – he was first going to a festival, and then going to wwoof (volunteer on a farm). But they did not ask him for any of this. They just stamped his passport and let him through.

Before he did this we also got some information from an immigration consultant in Germany, and she said that if you are leaving Schengen and going back to your home country then you should not have any problems. It is only when you are trying to go to some other country…

If you want legal advice, contact these people (you can just email them, they speak english)
[url removed]

I don’t know how it is for whatever nationality you are, but if you are going back to your home country then it “seems” like you should not have any problems.

“Before he did this we also got some information from an immigration consultant in Germany, and she said that if you are leaving Schengen and going back to your home country then you should not have any problems.”

THIS IS BAD ADVICE. Simply put, it’s not correct. This site is full of testimonials from people who were busted trying to return to their home country. I repeat, European immigration officials often give misinformation. It’s sad, but they truly cannot be trusted.

hi wade shepard,you didnt give me my answer is there any problem or not because i come in invitation so when i will try to leave this country then the person who send me invitation he get problem or not…..

Schengen visa questions are now only answered for contributors to the site. I simply get too many of them for it to be any other way. Those that I do answer without a contribution are those that could share potentially fresh/ new/ different information for others reading these pages. IF you’re interested, go to http://www.vagabondjourney.com/visa/schengen-visas/, become a contributor, and I will answer your question through private email consultation.

I overstayed in the Netherlands, they stopped when leaving and I didnt realise I couldnt re enter until I flew back in 6 months later from Australia! I then spent 3 days detained in the Lounge of the airport, roaming around ! It was awful ! I was banned for 3 years ! Now I need to re apply to have my name removed. Does anyone know the process ???

Hello, this might be a wee bit unrelated, I’m a student in Hungary and I failed to renew my residence permit which has now been expired for almost two weeks. Is there a chance I will get deported? Cheers

Hello. I am Australian. So I have traveled the world for the ast 4 years. Understand what annoying visa stuff is like from living in Brazil. I traveled to UK May 2014 and know I don’t need any special visa there unless its to stay long periods. I do not get too many questions regarding supporting myself financially as I work where I travel as I play poker professionally. Now in regards to all this knowledge about ‘shengan countries’ I was completely naive. I just thought Each country had its own restrictions and upon entering any Euro country I am pretty sure I checked if I needed to obtain a visa upon entering. I first entered Spain in June 2014 via Aircraft then entered and stayed in Portugal till October 2014. I then left and flew to Poland and was there was 6 months. In this time period however I had flown to Belgium, Uk and Czech Republic all for no more than 2 weeks and all back to Poland. All of this travel from looking at my passport I only got stamped in UK and a few stamps in Poland.
March 2015 I traveled to Malta with the intention to stay for undesignated period of time, with some intention to apply for some sort of long stay visa. Everything seems pretty chilled here and I just seemed to not care about it. Beginning of June this year I decide I want to travel to Las Vegas for a month for poker. I book my airfares with a return without thinking about anything and still not even having heard the term ‘Shengen’. I book my airfare which went Malta – Amsterdam – Zurich – Chicago – Las Vegas and Almost identical return.
Now this is where it all starts. I have a connecting flight where I need to travel through customs in Zurich airport. Customs stops me I go to their special room and I get fined and sorted quickly and I have enough time to make it to my connecting flight. Guy doesn’t elaborate on much, just says I have overstayed etc. I assumed I have been caught and everything carries on.
I return from Las Vegas traveling back through Zurich Airport genuinely forgetting about last time. Here we go again. They do not miss a beat here at Zurich! In and out of Schengen sections there! This time was more serious. I explained that the last customs officer didn’t even ask me if I had a return etc etc., and this is how I ended up here again! After an hour or 2 they said I had to either be put on a return flight back to San Fransisco OR Book a direct flight to a Non Shengen country. I booked a flight indirect to uk initially and wasted 200 euros since he was not clear the first time then I obviously booked another flight direct to London this time. I knew this would be very annoying being in London applying for some long stay Visa just to get back to Malta but it was my only option. I had to email the officer my Booking confirmation. My flight was the next day so I stayed in the ‘transit hotel’ inside Zurich Airport absolutely hating life and not having slept for well over 30hrs.
So the next day I had time to figure out the landscape of the Airport. I realised that the Airport seemed segregated in some way. I seemed to be stuck in the D/E Zone where it was just hopeless. Ie no Information Desk hardly any Food bars. I guess also in the back of my mind, not anyone could just cross into the other sections. Anyway I decided to try get through with no real ulterior intentions. So I simply waited in line in customs. There were 2 lines and I decided the older guy had more chance to overlook my Passport. I handed it over and just said I have a flight booked to London but there’s no information desk there etc etc. I guessed I distracted him a little. He just stamps it then I walk through. I then officially realised by looking at a board, that you could only gets flights to Shengan countries from the area I was in. I then felt like I had escaped from prison in some way without having any clear intentions to continue the ‘run’. Anyway after some contemplation I went and asked if there were flights to Malta. There was one boarding in 15mins. I booked it and that was it. I was nervous, knowing I was taking a risk. I seriously felt like authorities might come after me. Anyway, I made it back to Malta! And yes I know I am not here ‘legally’ but also know I am not alone and I am not a criminal!
Now this is where my question lies. I need to travel to Spain for a family members wedding and back to Malta. Then to leave to Australia in November at the latest. Will customs at either Malta Airport or Madrid Airport Scan or question my Passport? I know from experience in these countries they seem relaxed but I am worried about the few percent chance here? I also read that worst case scenario they will tell you that you need to leave on your own accord and that they do not physically deport you? Last question – Do you or anyone with great knowledge think I should travel Via Land ie Ferry then land transport?
Or is this simply a case of being in ‘The ‘Shengen’ Area already and will just have to wait until departing the area.
In relation to Switzerland Authorities I am almost certain I will receive at least a One year ban from their country. My understanding from speaking to the Officer is that it differs from countries within. Also I see that Switzerland is in the Shengen Region But ‘NON EU’. Does my problem lie more with just Switzerland at the moment? I do not particularly care about being banned from Switzerland for a few years but do not want to be banned from the entire Area for several years for the future.
Anyway if you or anyone could assist in answering these latter questions of mine in would greatly decrease my potential anxiety traveling in September.

The bans are for the entire Schengen region, but as you found they can be enforced laxly and inconsistently. Malta is Schengen, so going to Spain you shouldn’t have to go through immigration. No, you’re not going to be put in jail for this. If you don’t mind gambling with entries, you could just keep on how you are.

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About Wade Shepard

I’m an itinerant writer who has been traveling the world since 1999, through 90 countries. I wrote Ghost Cities of China, a book which chronicles the two years that I spent in China’s new cities, and have another book about the New Silk Road coming out soon. I’m a regular contributor to Forbes, The Guardian, and the South China Morning Post, and I have been featured on BBC World, VICE, NPR Morning Edition, CNBC Squawk Box, CBC The Current … This is my personal blog where I share stories from the road that don’t fit in anywhere else. In other words, this is my daily diary, raw and real — it is not edited or even proofread. Subscribe below.